Kusawa Lake

Kusawa Lake is a lake in the southern Yukon, Canada. Kusawa means "long narrow lake" in the Tlingit language. The Kusawa Lake is a lake in Canada's Yukon Territory. It is located at an altitude of 671 m (2,201 ft) and is 60 km (37 mi) southwest of Whitehorse near the British Columbia border. It meanders over a length of 75 km (47 mi) with a maximum width of about 2.5 km (1.6 mi) through the mountains in the north of the Boundary Ranges. It is fed by the Primrose River and Kusawa River. The Takhini outflows to the Yukon River from the northern tip of Kusawa Lake. Kusawa Lake has an area of 142 km2 (55 sq mi). The lake has a maximum depth of 140 m (460 ft) and is of glacial origin.[2] It is a common tourist destination and is also popular for fishing.

Kusawa Lake
Kusawa Lake
LocationYukon (Canada)
Coordinates60°21′22.7″N 136°20′25.9″W
Primary inflowsTakhini River, Primrose River, Kusawa River
Primary outflowsTakhini River
Basin countriesCanada
Max. length75 km (47 mi)
Max. width2.5 km (1.6 mi)
Max. depth140 m (460 ft)[1]
Surface elevation671 mi (1,080 km)
SettlementsWhitehorse, Yukon

Description

Kusawa Lake is one of many large, long and narrow glacier-fed alpine lakes in the southern Yukon, most of which are part of the Yukon River system. Others include Teslin Lake, Atlin Lake, Tagish Lake, Marsh Lake, Lake Laberge, and Kluane Lake.

There is access to the lake via an unpaved road that branches from the Yukon Highway 1 Alaska Highway, which runs 20 km (12 mi) north of the lake.[3]

Etymology

Kusawa was derived from a Tlingit phrase, which means narrow lake.[4] Because retreating glaciers often leave long and narrow lakes, there were at least four lakes which were once called Kusawa, including the present-day Kusawa Lake.[5][6]

Archaeology

About 6 km (3.7 mi) east of the campgrounds on Kuwasa Lake is the site where the first of the Yukon Ice Patches was discovered in 1997 on mountain Thandlät.[7][8] The Yukon Ice Patches are studied by archaeologists in partnership with six Yukon First Nations, on whose traditional territory the ice patches were found. They include the Carcross/Tagish First Nation, the Kwanlin Dün First Nation, the Ta’an Kwäch’än Council, the Champagne and Aishihik First Nations, the Kluane First Nation, and the Teslin Tlingit Council.[9] The wooden dart shaft fragment that was recovered was radiocarbon dated to 4360 ± 50 14C yr BP (TO 6870).[10]:120

Kusawa Lake Territorial Park

The Kusawa Lake Territorial Park, a protected area of 3,082 km2 (1,190 sq mi), is in the planning stage.[11][12]

Wildlife

Fish

The lake is dominated by Arctic grayling, herring, Prosopium cylindraceum and American char.[11]

Caribou

There are no longer any caribou in the region but in her 1987 interviews, Elder Mary Ned (born 1890s-) also spoke about caribou being "all over this place." Evidence of this was proven by the nearby discovery of the Ice Patch artifacts...Oral history tells us that a corral, or caribou fence was located on the east side of the lake, between the lake and the mountain."[7][13][14]

See also

References
  1. Environment Yukon
  2. Kuwasa Lake, Danish Wikipedia
  3. Environment Yukon Archived 2013-10-16 at the Wayback Machine
  4. Coutts, Robert C. (2003). Yukon Places and Names. Moose Creek Publishing.
  5. "The four known pre-1898 Kusawa Lakes were: First, the present-day Kusawa Lake at 60° N, 136° W." Krause, Aurel, and Arthur Krause (1993). To the Chukchi Peninsula and to the Tlingit Indians 1881/1882. University of Alaska Press. ISBN 978-0-912006-66-6.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link), at pp. 214, 216 (Westlicher Kussooaa); Coutts (2003). Yukon Places and Names., at page 166. Second, the present-day Surprise Lake. Canada (1908). Seventh Report of the Geographic Board., at page 72 (Surprise Lake [ex-Kusiwah Lake]); Thornton (2012). Haa Léelk'w Hás Aaní Saax'ú (PDF). p. 73 (#2: Koosawu Áa [Surprise Lake]). Retrieved 2017-10-16. Third, the otherwise unnamed lake near the head of the Chilkat River. Id., at page 57 (#15: Koosawu Áa [lake in upper Chilkat River]). Fourth, the present-day Bennett Lake. Krause and Krause (1993). To the Chukchi Peninsula and to the Tlingit Indians., at pp. 211, 230 (Kussooa [today Bennett Lake]). "In addition, both the portage between Lindeman Lake and Bennett Lake, as well as Bennett Lake itself, also bore the Tlingit name Ch'akúx Anax Dul.adi Yé [Place to Pack a Skin Canoe Over]. The Tagish name for Bennett Lake was Mén Chó [Big Lake]." Sidney, Angela (1980). Place-Names of the Tagish Region, Southern Yukon. Council for Yukon Indians., at ##108, 111. from List of White Pass and Yukon Route locomotives and cars
  6. The corresponding body of water is located in former Southern Tutchone territory and has a separate Southern Tutchone name. The reason that the Tlingit name currently prevails is that the early English-speaking explorers and map makers hired mostly Tlingit guides, interpreters, and other informants. When these early explorers and map makers reduced their information to writing, the names used were those given by the Tlingit informants. The meaning of a Tlingt name often differed from the meaning of the corresponding Southern Tutchone name. See, Tlen (1993). Kluane Southern Tutchone Glossary., at pp. 42-50 (Tlingit Aishihik = Southern Tutchone Män Sho [Lake Big]; Dezadeash = Tatl’àt Mǟn [End of the Lake]; Hutshi = Chu Yena Mǟn [Water Where One Eats Lake?]; Kluane = Łù Àn Mǟn [Whitefish Place Lake]; Klukshu = Łu Ghą Mǟna [Fish for People are in the Lake]; Kusawa = Nakhų Mǟn [Raft-Crossing Lake]; Takhini = Gęl Ädhäl [Springs Hot]) From List of White Pass and Yukon Route locomotives and cars
  7. "Traditional Homeland". Kusawa Park Steering Committee. nd. Archived from the original on March 29, 2017. Retrieved December 2, 2017.
  8. Kuzyk, G.W.; Russell, D.E.; Farnell, R.S.; Gotthardt, R.M.; Hare, P.G.; Blake, E. (1999). "In pursuit of prehistoric c caribou on Thandlät, southern Yukon" (PDF). Arctic. 52 (2): 214–219. doi:10.14430/arctic924.
  9. Greer, S.; Strand, D. (2012). "Cultural landscapes, past and present, and the South Yukon ice patches". Arctic. 65 (1): 136–152. doi:10.14430/arctic4189.
  10. Hare, P. Gregory; Thomas, Christian D.; Topper, Timothy N.; Gotthardt, Ruth M. (2012). "The Archaeology of Yukon Ice Patches: New Artifacts, Observations, and Insights" (PDF). Arctic. 65 (1): 118–135. doi:10.14430/arctic4188.
  11. "Kusawa Lake Territorial Park" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-10-14. Retrieved 2017-12-02.
  12. Kusawa park, Government of Yukon, Environment, nd, retrieved December 2, 2017
  13. Cruikshank, J. (1985), Contributions to the Oral History of the Kusawa Lake Region, Yukon Territory, Archaeological Survey of Canada, p. 28 From Mrs. Annie Ned prepared for Archaeological Survey of Canada, National Museums of Canada.
  14. Cruikshank, Julie (January 1, 1991). Life Lived Like a Story: Life Stories of Three Yukon Native Elders. UBC Press. p. 428.
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